Tis the season to....build a workshop!

[Anonymous]

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[OllyK]

That is a lot of pillars. Depending on what you're using for the joists, you could just put a pillars at the ends and then span between.

Floor joists in a house are generally 15" on centre, but again depending on materials and the weight of machinery and the spans I'd be tempted to beef that up a bit.

Yes, you want some kind of DPC between the concrete and the wood. Personally I'd look at something like polystyrene insulation between the joists and under the floorboards, leave a 1 inch gap between the poly and the floorboarding.

Vapour barrier needs to be on the warm side of the insulation. Tyvec is breath able and so won't be any good as a vapour barrier, although you could use it on the outside under the shiplap / t&g to add to the waterproofing, but that seems rather expensive overkill to me, I'd just use plastic sheeting on the inside.

 

[Johnboy]

Joists are normally 16" centres not 15" as this fits in better with standard 8' x 4' plywood sheets. My workshop is similar in size to yours at 20' x 12' and I used 8" x 2" pressure treated for the floor joists. 3 running lengthwise with joists at 16" centres across the width hung on joist hangers.. Mine is on engineering bricks on a concrete pad, I just used 4 equi spaced under the long side so 12 in total, hasn't collapsed yet (7 years) the joists are just laid an a damp proof layer. I nailed battens to the joists to support 6mm WPB ply and put 100mm rockwool on that then moisture resistant chipboard flooring, I didn't put in a membrane but probably should have. I used 4" x 2" for the walls again at 16" centres, 12mm ply on the outside then pressure treated feather edge. Insulated with 100mm rockwool and 6mm MDF on the inside, no DPM again (i didn't know any better then). Rafters (pitched roof) are 6" x 2" again at 16" centres. 3/4" shuttering ply with felt on top. Insulation and then more 6mm MDF on the inside. I decided on no windows for security and fitted 6 double fluorescent lights.

HTH

John

 

[Maia28]

Hi Dave,

I was pondering whether to start my own workshop thread as I am now up to floor level. I have found shultzy and mailee's threads invaluable so far. Mine is 6.3 by 3.3, the foundation is hardcore/sand and paving slabs with a section of retaining wall as I had to overcome a ~12" change in level. The floor joists are on 61cm centres to match the ply sheets I will line it with. The old shed was supported on single bricks resting on soil at 1.22M spacing with 3" planks laid flat. It had started to sag a little but had stood for at least 10 years. Having developed a taste for this woodworking lark, it could no longer support the machines and my old car parts. I'm going to use the old DG units left over from our extension for windows and have been thinking of onduline/coroline roofing with some small GRP sections for north-facing roof light.

If you like, I will start a thread and post some pictures (or I might just do that anyway!). I look forward to seeing how you get on.

Andy

 

[mailee]

Hey brilliant Dave and Andy! About time we had another workshop build on here, I love them. Glad I have been of some service to you too. Looking forward to the progress.

 

[Waka]

Dave

We'll want a comprehensive WIP on a regular basis.

You never mentioned what you bought at westonbert? Come clean now.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers for the advice so far. I'm leaning towards not doing pillars. I like the idea of the hardcore + sand base + paving slabs base. My only problem is that there are several trees next to the site so there will be lots of roots.

Has anybody found the builders merchants do timber any cheaper than B&Q? Gloucester B&Q has a large timber section. I'll check out prices/sizes later this week and post them for comparison.

Sorry for no pics yet. Work won't really get started for a couple of weeks.

Dave

 

[Paul.J]

Dave.
Have you thought about a concrete base and a prefabricated garage/workshop.
Just thinking if you did get the VB36 you will need a good solid floor.
Paul.J.

 

[Maia28]

Dave,
Have a look at dobuilddirect.com. They supply through Build Centre but offer a lower price on delivered timber/materials. I have used them a couple of times and they are helpful and prompt.
Andy

 

[AndyT]

Has anybody found the builders merchants do timber any cheaper than B&Q? Gloucester B&Q has a large timber section. I'll check out prices/sizes later this week and post them for comparison.

Try driving south from Gloucester on the Bristol Road (A38). I don't have any personal experience of them, but there are three or four huge great timber merchants in a row there. Every time I come back from Gloucester, I find myself thinking that it must be a really good place to buy a lot of wood!

Andy

 

[ike]

Try driving south from Gloucester on the Bristol Road (A38). I don't have any personal experience of them, but there are three or four huge great timber merchants in a row there

Joseph Griggs - major part of their business is truss frame manufacture.

Nicks Timber next door - an excellent timber yard - large stocks of all grades and sizes. Both retailers as well as wholesalers to many off the smaller builders merchants around. The timber comes off the boat at Sharpness and used to be barged up the ship canal straight to their wharf.

Has anybody found the builders merchants do timber any cheaper than B&Q?

PS, Dave, I've seen better pallet wood than what goes for 'wood' in B&Q. Don't go there - use Nicks Timber.

Ike

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Try driving south from Gloucester on the Bristol Road (A38). I don't have any personal experience of them, but there are three or four huge great timber merchants in a row there

Joseph Griggs - major part of their business is truss frame manufacture.

Nicks Timber next door - an excellent timber yard - large stocks of all grades and sizes. Both retailers as well as wholesalers to many off the smaller builders merchants around. The timber comes off the boat at Sharpness and used to be barged up the ship canal straight to their wharf.

Ike

Yes all the wood used to be delivered to them on concrete barges from Sharpness, thats why they are on that side of the A38, every property backs up to the canal, every plank unloaded one at a time by men carrying the plank on their shoulder whilst walking along another plank off the barge. It was quite an art getting the bounce right.

 

[iwood]

I'm up to floor level on my new workshop and also used hardcore/sand/paving slabs. Worksop is 20x12 and the floor framing sits on 3 long rows of British Standard Paving. That's the stuff they use on pavements. Its 2" thick, 2' wide, quite cheap and widely available.

Mind you laying 60 feet of it perfectly flat took a lot longer than I thought it would..

 

[Anonymous]

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[carlsberg]

Now for the questions. I'd like to use rockwool under the floor. How would this be supported? I don't want polystyrene due to the flammability.

Dave, when I built my workshop, I considered using rockwool under the floor, but changed my mind incase it got wet. I suspect it would be like a big sponge and never dry out and losing its insulating properties.
This turned out to be a wise move as the floor of the workshop got saturated with rain many times before the structure became waterproof.

Cutting the polystyrene to fit the spaces is not something I want to do again anytime soon, very fiddly with a handsaw and seemed to take an age.

If you do go down the rockwool path, then I think you could use chicken wire stapled to the underside of the floor structure, but that would also be a PITA to do.

IMHO whether you use polystyrene or rockwool, a timber framed workshop is going to burn to the ground in a big way if the worst happens, especially with internal wooden cladding like mine 8)

Keep posting the pics, it might spur me on to get on with fitting the shingles on the roof of mine to finish it off, although im rather busy as of late. Hopefully I can get it done before the real cold weather comes along.

carlsberg

 

[DaveL]

There are a number of ways to hold the insulation between the floor joist. If you use a rigid sheet material, polystyrene or kingspan then nail battens to the sides at the bottom and drop the cut sheet in. For rock wool chick wire as already mentioned, but if you can't staple to the bottom use 'U' shaped bits nailed to the sides of the joists or get some of the thin plastic net and run it across the tops of the joists. staple it one end drop a loop into the gap and staple on the next joist. the floor board should sit flat on top of the net with no problem.

 

[Anonymous]

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[andys wood shed]

Dave,

I have a box (500 I think) of these if they are any use to you
and the good news is they are FREE :lol:


Regards

Andy

 

[Shultzy]

Andy, I wouldn't mind those hangers if Dave doesn't want them. They would be useful hold the insulation when I do the ceiling.

 

[Anonymous]

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